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Post by Drav on Mar 1, 2024 13:43:26 GMT -5
If anyone wants to hear a joke Some random website wrote an article about Kerry Miller of Bleacher report predicting the Cubs land Shane Beiber at the trade deadline. In the article they mention that A Mike Tauchman for Bieber trade could work. One for one. Even at the deadline Cleveland would end up laughing at Hawkins and then hang up on him for mention that idea of a trade. I've never heard of this website at all before and don't see myself ever really going back. heavy.com/sports/mlb/chicago-cubs/cleveland-guardians-shane-bieber-trade-rumor/It gets better though , you missed the punchline , after saying Tauchman for Bieber they add this <<If the Guardians are seeking to flip their veterans with an eye to the future, they may include another player along with Bieber and acquire a prospect like Caissie or Alcántara, two top-five members of the Cubs’ farm system from 2023>> So Tauchman is good enough to land Bieber , but if they include another random ass player then thats good enough to land Caissie or Alcantara. Yeah the one for one swap was so insane I stopped reading. As much as I would love that trade to happen. I doubt those trades would even get approved in the video games.
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Post by batman66 on Mar 27, 2024 11:32:35 GMT -5
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Post by batman66 on Mar 27, 2024 15:36:37 GMT -5
Former Cub prospect Jared Young who STL claimed off waivers from the Cubs in November has been placed on outright waivers.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2024 11:17:15 GMT -5
All Access video of Cubs off season.
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Post by bryzzobrist on Mar 29, 2024 17:00:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the video malagacubs
I'm glad to see how confident Shota looks around teammates. Seems like good personality, nice guy, all that.
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Post by batman66 on Mar 29, 2024 19:09:31 GMT -5
All Access video of Cubs off season. Very cool, thanks for posting that.
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Post by batman66 on Mar 29, 2024 19:11:41 GMT -5
Cubs sign catcher Curt Casali to minor league deal.
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Post by kfidd on Apr 1, 2024 9:35:50 GMT -5
Just wanted to chime in on the Morel discussion in the game thread that is likely to be archived here shortly. I have a few bullet point thoughts:
- I don’t know about y’all but I came into the season expecting some growing pains with his glove work at third base. It’s looked rough and absolutely cannot continue at this pace for long, but to be fair the entire infield defense has looked rough. That includes multiple miscues by both Swanson and Hoerner. Everyone needs to be better and maybe there is some shaking off the rust happening here just three games into the season.
- If you punt Morel off to DH now you effectively do so for the future as well. He isn’t going to magically become a better fielder without opportunities. If that’s the case, that’s a huge roadblock we create for finding opportunities for guys like Canario and Caissie in the near future. Heck, it’s even difficult to imagine how PCA gets a promotion without having DH available to accommodate the ripple effect that would occur.
- In the immediate term, who plays third base? Is the drop in offense from Madrigal (.626 OPS in 2.5 seasons now with the Cubs) enough to warrant a starting job? Is losing Mastrobuoni’s versatility off the bench worth it? Wisdom is out and not an option, Vazquez isn’t on the 26man. Who do we entrust with the third base job that is actually worth the trade off? Because if there wasn’t a significant trade off in either direction they would already be the starting third baseman.
All of this is to really say something many of us were discussing over the offseason. They had a chance to solidify third base with a more known commodity, they didn’t take it. The Morel fielding experiment is one that needs to be played out with expected growing pains but also the need to see steady improvement from him. Now is the time to find that out because the other available options are all pretty uninspiring (just as his defense has been).
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Post by batman66 on Apr 1, 2024 10:21:14 GMT -5
Just wanted to chime in on the Morel discussion in the game thread that is likely to be archived here shortly. I have a few bullet point thoughts: - I don’t know about y’all but I came into the season expecting some growing pains with his glove work at third base. It’s looked rough and absolutely cannot continue at this pace for long, but to be fair the entire infield defense has looked rough. That includes multiple miscues by both Swanson and Hoerner. Everyone needs to be better and maybe there is some shaking off the rust happening here just three games into the season. - If you punt Morel off to DH now you effectively do so for the future as well. He isn’t going to magically become a better fielder without opportunities. If that’s the case, that’s a huge roadblock we create for finding opportunities for guys like Canario and Caissie in the near future. Heck, it’s even difficult to imagine how PCA gets a promotion without having DH available to accommodate the ripple effect that would occur. - In the immediate term, who plays third base? Is the drop in offense from Madrigal (.626 OPS in 2.5 seasons now with the Cubs) enough to warrant a starting job? Is losing Mastrobuoni’s versatility off the bench worth it? Wisdom is out and not an option, Vazquez isn’t on the 26man. Who do we entrust with the third base job that is actually worth the trade off? Because if there wasn’t a significant trade off in either direction they would already be the starting third baseman. All of this is to really say something many of us were discussing over the offseason. They had a chance to solidify third base with a more known commodity, they didn’t take it. The Morel fielding experiment is one that needs to be played out with expected growing pains but also the need to see steady improvement from him. Now is the time to find that out because the other available options are all pretty uninspiring (just as his defense has been). I have not seen the guy play 3b but it might come down to this if they bail on Morel as the 3b , and that is give Busch a go at 3b because it will solve the PCA carousel issue if you slide Belli over to 1b if Morel is your DH and Busch plays 3b and PCA in CF. So it seems they have to force feed 3b on one of Maorel or Busch at some point. They might just have to face the fact that 3b is going to hurt them a little on D unless they go with Madrigal who you really can't depend on because he always gets injured. I could live with the lack of slug from him , the Cubs offense should be solid , but you know it's a case of when ,not if he will hit the I L . Mastro like you alluded to , kind of needs to be that bench guy because he can do so many things for you. I'm not too worried, it will work itlself out, they have depth so eventually it will get figured out , atleast it should when you have a handfulof guys who can play 3b, you hope one will eventually be the guy..
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Post by lajoiesghost on Apr 1, 2024 10:32:17 GMT -5
Just wanted to chime in on the Morel discussion in the game thread that is likely to be archived here shortly. I have a few bullet point thoughts: - I don’t know about y’all but I came into the season expecting some growing pains with his glove work at third base. It’s looked rough and absolutely cannot continue at this pace for long, but to be fair the entire infield defense has looked rough. That includes multiple miscues by both Swanson and Hoerner. Everyone needs to be better and maybe there is some shaking off the rust happening here just three games into the season. - If you punt Morel off to DH now you effectively do so for the future as well. He isn’t going to magically become a better fielder without opportunities. If that’s the case, that’s a huge roadblock we create for finding opportunities for guys like Canario and Caissie in the near future. Heck, it’s even difficult to imagine how PCA gets a promotion without having DH available to accommodate the ripple effect that would occur. - In the immediate term, who plays third base? Is the drop in offense from Madrigal (.626 OPS in 2.5 seasons now with the Cubs) enough to warrant a starting job? Is losing Mastrobuoni’s versatility off the bench worth it? Wisdom is out and not an option, Vazquez isn’t on the 26man. Who do we entrust with the third base job that is actually worth the trade off? Because if there wasn’t a significant trade off in either direction they would already be the starting third baseman. All of this is to really say something many of us were discussing over the offseason. They had a chance to solidify third base with a more known commodity, they didn’t take it. The Morel fielding experiment is one that needs to be played out with expected growing pains but also the need to see steady improvement from him. Now is the time to find that out because the other available options are all pretty uninspiring (just as his defense has been). Certainly Morel's defense will be an ongoing concern but it's early. I didn't watch yesterday but from Pat and Ron's description, his footwork was off on his throwing error. OK, that is fixable with time and experience. Certainly he's not winning any gold gloves and I'm not ready to dismiss whether his defense can still be serviceable. That's not to say my anxiety won't go up every time a ball is hit to 3rd but his bat needs to be in the lineup. With time, his athleticism may let him stick there. As you said, Morel, Hoerner, Swanson all have an error.
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Post by rvn11 on Apr 1, 2024 13:01:00 GMT -5
Just wanted to chime in on the Morel discussion in the game thread that is likely to be archived here shortly. I have a few bullet point thoughts: - I don’t know about y’all but I came into the season expecting some growing pains with his glove work at third base. It’s looked rough and absolutely cannot continue at this pace for long, but to be fair the entire infield defense has looked rough. That includes multiple miscues by both Swanson and Hoerner. Everyone needs to be better and maybe there is some shaking off the rust happening here just three games into the season. - If you punt Morel off to DH now you effectively do so for the future as well. He isn’t going to magically become a better fielder without opportunities. If that’s the case, that’s a huge roadblock we create for finding opportunities for guys like Canario and Caissie in the near future. Heck, it’s even difficult to imagine how PCA gets a promotion without having DH available to accommodate the ripple effect that would occur. - In the immediate term, who plays third base? Is the drop in offense from Madrigal (.626 OPS in 2.5 seasons now with the Cubs) enough to warrant a starting job? Is losing Mastrobuoni’s versatility off the bench worth it? Wisdom is out and not an option, Vazquez isn’t on the 26man. Who do we entrust with the third base job that is actually worth the trade off? Because if there wasn’t a significant trade off in either direction they would already be the starting third baseman. All of this is to really say something many of us were discussing over the offseason. They had a chance to solidify third base with a more known commodity, they didn’t take it. The Morel fielding experiment is one that needs to be played out with expected growing pains but also the need to see steady improvement from him. Now is the time to find that out because the other available options are all pretty uninspiring (just as his defense has been). Certainly Morel's defense will be an ongoing concern but it's early. I didn't watch yesterday but from Pat and Ron's description, his footwork was off on his throwing error. OK, that is fixable with time and experience. Certainly he's not winning any gold gloves and I'm not ready to dismiss whether his defense can still be serviceable. That's not to say my anxiety won't go up every time a ball is hit to 3rd but his bat needs to be in the lineup. With time, his athleticism may let him stick there. As you said, Morel, Hoerner, Swanson all have an error. Morel has played 3b most of his MILB career, if his footwork isn't there now I don't know that it ever will be.
Swanson's defense I've been a bit disappointed in thus far. A few plays he missed or I expected him to get. Beyond the error either yesterday or Saturday was a ball hit directly at him, sharply, that he tried to field to the side and did an olay move. Don't think he was given an error, but definitely a play he should have made; stay in front and knock it down.
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Post by batman66 on Apr 13, 2024 18:34:35 GMT -5
Tauchman will eventually turn into PCA at some point , could even be to start the season but I doubt it and I'm not too worried about Busch not producing. It's 3b I have the issue with , but between Madrigal, Matrobouni, Morel, Wisdon, Busch on occasion they should be ok. Kind of dumb to say they aren't serious about winning when they go out and pay a manager by far a record setting contract. Adjustments can be made in season , just because they might start it with Madrigal, Tauchman and Busch doesn't mean thats how it ends. I'm not happy about it , I wtill want Bellinger badly , but again it depends what he's looking for and if Boras is dead set on a contract like we;ve been hearing , as bad as I want Belly , it doesn't make sense for the Cubs when they have PCA, Busch, Caissie etc. Cubs really need Belly NOW for 2024 and 2025 , after that probably not as much but I'd love to have him anyway. "but I doubt it and I'm not too worried about Busch not producing." This makes absolutely no sense. Why? Because he raked in the minors? We haven't learned our lesson about that? You say "I'm not worried about hi producing" for guys like Acuna, Ohtani, Judge, Soto..... not freakin Michael Busch. You can say you hope he produces, but to say you're not worried about it? That's dumb. I hope he produces. "Kind of dumb to say they aren't serious about winning when they go out and pay a manager by far a record setting contract." It's kind dumb to this they are if Nick, Tauchman and Busch are your every day guys. This is funny. Keep going Bartman. "Adjustments can be made in season , just because they might start it with Madrigal, Tauchman and Busch doesn't mean thats how it ends." Sure, but it won't be three trades. It will be in house, counting on minor leaguers, a la the Pirates and Royals. You convinced yourself already that things are fine, so, no use in going back and forth. <<This makes absolutely no sense. Why? Because he raked in the minors? We haven't learned our lesson about that? You say "I'm not worried about hi producing" for guys like Acuna, Ohtani, Judge, Soto..... not freakin Michael Busch. You can say you hope he produces, but to say you're not worried about it? That's dumb. I hope he produces.>> This is why I wasn't worried about Busch , I know it's early but as of today Busch .293/.375/.585 and your facorite wRC+ of 154 which trails only Naylor and Olson among all 1B in baseball and he's tied for 4th in barrel rate among all players
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Post by Returnofstevefitz on Apr 15, 2024 11:03:51 GMT -5
I'm really really happy for Busch. I just did NOT want to rely on him losing Belly. Signing Belly back made me more at ease with Busch.
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Post by kfidd on Apr 15, 2024 19:40:48 GMT -5
The league is already at about the 10% mark of the regular season. The top 10 free agents from MLBTR thus far:
1. Shohei Ohtani - 1.048 OPS, 175 wRC+😭 😭 2. Cody Bellinger - .562 OPS, 46 wRC+ 3. Yoshinobu Yamamoto - 16.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 3.19 FIP 4. Blake Snell - 7.0 IP, 12.86 ERA, 6.11 FIP 5. Aaron Nola - 16.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 6.75 FIP 6. Jordan Montgomery - first start currently planned for Friday 7. Matt Chapman - .626 OPS, 74 wRC+ 8. Josh Hader - 7.1 IP, 4.91 ERA, 3.52 FIP 9. Sonny Gray - 5.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.25 FIP 10. Shota Imanaga - 15.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.55 FIP 😁 😁
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Post by kfidd on Apr 22, 2024 11:33:38 GMT -5
Boring and frustrating off day considering the unfortunate events of the weekend.
Cubs record: 13-9 Expected record: 13-9 Record vs teams above .500: 6-6 Record against teams below .500: 7-3
Team leaders
OPS (min 3.1 pa per game played) 1. Busch: 1.003 (and he sat for two games this weekend why?) 2. Suzuki: .893 😭 😭 3. Hoerner: .784
HR 1. Busch: 6 2. Bellinger: 4 3. Morel: 3 3. Swanson: 3
RBI 1. Bellinger: 15 1. Busch: 15 3. Suzuki: 13 😭 😭
SB 👀 1. Swanson: 2 2. Madrigal: 1 2. Morel: 1
ERA (ironically the Cubs have no qualifying pitchers here since no one pitches deep into games consistently enough)
Saves (we all know about Adbert and his struggles but as a team the Cubs have had 11 save opportunities and converted on just 4(!) of them)
League wide rankings
Runs 6th - 119
HR 10th - 23
AVG 12th - .247
OBP 9th - .327
SLG 7th - .408
Team ERA 16th - .412
Bullpen ERA 18th - 3.99
QS 26th - 4
WHIP 19th - 1.30
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Post by kfidd on Apr 22, 2024 11:44:22 GMT -5
Meanwhile the Brewers, the team that everyone always overlooks, is off to a scorching hot start. 13-6, the third highest run differential in the game, and really handling above .500 teams extremely well with a. 10-5 record against them. The only cake walk series they’ve had thus far was their opening series against the Mets when they were dog water and they swept them on the road.
Their injury situation has also been pretty dire, missing Woodruff, Williams, Gasser, and Mitchell all since essentially opening day. They’ve also been without Yelich now for over a week after his blistering 1.166 OPS start to the season.
Many thought that the loss of Counsell would be a huge blow to them, but they haven’t shown it at all. Specifically the bullpen, after losing bullpen manager extraordinaire Counsell and ace closer Williams, has been rock solid for them. Their 3.09 bullpen ERA ranks 8th in the majors.
All this to say, everyone should stop sleeping on the Brewers. My opinion of them in the offseason stands: after dominating the division for as long as they have (5 playoffs births in last 6 seasons) they should be viewed as the favorites until someone dethrones them. They look unstoppable right now and have handled all injuries thrown their way quite handedly.
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Post by thisbuds4u on Apr 22, 2024 13:05:04 GMT -5
Meanwhile the Brewers, the team that everyone always overlooks, is off to a scorching hot start. 13-6, the third highest run differential in the game, and really handling above .500 teams extremely well with a. 10-5 record against them. The only cake walk series they’ve had thus far was their opening series against the Mets when they were dog water and they swept them on the road. Their injury situation has also been pretty dire, missing Woodruff, Williams, Gasser, and Mitchell all since essentially opening day. They’ve also been without Yelich now for over a week after his blistering 1.166 OPS start to the season. Many thought that the loss of Counsell would be a huge blow to them, but they haven’t shown it at all. Specifically the bullpen, after losing bullpen manager extraordinaire Counsell and ace closer Williams, has been rock solid for them. Their 3.09 bullpen ERA ranks 8th in the majors. All this to say, everyone should stop sleeping on the Brewers. My opinion of them in the offseason stands: after dominating the division for as long as they have (5 playoffs births in last 6 seasons) they should be viewed as the favorites until someone dethrones them. They look unstoppable right now and have handled all injuries thrown their way quite handedly. You can add in the fact that the Brewers traded Corbin Burnes this past off-season.
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